For The Love of Peanuts

ATTENTION HEALTH NUTS
There’s preliminary evidence that boiled peanuts may be the Popeye’s spinach of the legume family.

A study published last year by the University of Alabama at Huntsville examined the nutritional benefits produced by processing peanuts in different ways—specifically, boiling, dry-roasting and oil-roasting. It concluded that peanuts processed by boiling contain more antioxidants than roasted peanuts, peanut butter, or even peanuts in the raw.

The boiling process appears to draw out isoflavones, powerful antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. The Alabama study showed that boiled peanuts contain up to four times more isoflavones than their dry- and oil-roasted brethren.

PEANUT-BOILING 101
Freak out your Yankee friends by showing up with a pot of these boiled peanuts at the next social function. They’re fool-proof to prepare, and whether they’re a hit or a bust, at least they’re a better conversation-starter than the usual chips-and-salsa or cheese log.

Ingredients:

--4 to 5 pounds of green (raw) peanuts in the shell

--4 to 6 quarts of water

--1 cup plain salt

Directions:

Wash unshelled peanuts thoroughly in cold water until water runs clear. Then soak in cool, clean water for approximately 30 minutes before cooking.

In a large pot, placed soaked peanuts and cover completely with water. Add one cup of salt per gallon of water. Cook, covered, on high heat for four to seven hours. (Note: The cooking time of boiled peanuts varies according to the maturity of the peanuts used and the variety of peanuts. The cooking time for a “freshly pulled” or green peanut is shorter than for a peanut that has been stored for a time.)

Boil the peanuts for about four hours, then taste. Taste again in 10 minutes, both for salt and texture. Keep cooking and tasting until the peanuts reach desired texture. (When fully cooked, the texture of the peanut should be similar to that of a cooked dry pea or bean.)

Remove from heat and drain peanuts after cooking or they will absorb salt and become oversalted. Peanuts may be eaten hot or at room temperature, or chilled in the refrigerator and eaten cold, shelling as you eat them.

—Recipe used with permission from its author, Linda Stradley, and her website whatscookingamerica.net.

Just exactly what Polyene Mburu told me!! Thanks Poly.